We've all seen teams find guys that went under the radar and had great success with him. I wish the young man nothing but the best. I just found the idea of Nebraska, Texas and UCONN football together kind of funny.

The background lighting and the light over the table are probably coming from different sources.(the picture's white balance is probably set for artificial light and there's a window open behind the photographer.) Look at the helmet on the right side of the picture.

The truth is when people think of the orangey looking maize, they're probably thinking about stuff they saw in pictures. The yellow hasn't changed that much since Adidas came in. (and that isn't even DB's fault....)

Gardner came to Michigan with 5 stars. He stuck out 3 offensive systems, a change to WR to benefit the team and what appeared consistent with post traumatic stress in his passing/decision making playing behind the least effective offensive lines seen in a generation.

But, apparently, in your analysis he had five stars and "look how that turned out". Turned out he got his degree at M and went to grad school. Turned out he'll make the NFL as A WR. Turned out the kid was a team player...enough to change positions when asked and enough to lead, imho, the greatest comeback I've seen at Michigan on a god damned broken foot.

This whole starz don't matter meme is bs. I trust the coaches but its clear from 2016 and 2017 offers that Harbauh is be focused on elite talent going forward. As to Gardner, if the coming teams play with his toughness and willingness to sacrifice for the team I'll be very happy.

Does anyone know if this kid may be a little better than his recruiting ranking? I trust Harbaugh but I can't remember the last time UM took a recruit ranked this low that wasn't like an original grey shirt idea.

He has good frame can put on weight, and has stocky arms. Has a low center of gravity. Those are his positives. The negatives overwhelmingly outweigh the positives, but are fixable with coaching. Bad weight, bad technique, and those are things you can fix.

One of the downsides of wrapping up recruiting before the kids play their senior season is not seeing that development. A lot of kids make a leap or finally get playing time. As someone mentioned Jake Ryan is a good example of a post senior season sleeper, Desmond Morgan, Frank Clark, Omameh among others who weren't getting offers at Michigan until their senior tape came out. There is also a lag in stars because of this. Don't worry though a Michigan commit gets bumped to 3 star almost automatically.

The staff may well have seen something that makes them believe he's better than his ranking. But they're also in a tough spot in terms of timing and filling out this class. They might not reach quite this far in the future.

It seems that the total number is closer to 16 now, rather than 12, in which case we have 7 more spots available. This will become a foundation class for Harbaugh's first few years so I hope we get some high effort (and high talent) kids that will lead the way.

"He also has a real good football IQ. He conceptualizes the game real well. He has long arms, 6-5, he weighed in at 284. He’s going to get bigger and he has more of an athletic build than lineman build."

Just when people began to wonder when the "Hello" posts would begin to reappear, so they begin to reappear and it is nice to see and a welcome development. It is pretty cool really to see the recruiting blitz start to pay dividends relatively quickly in what seems like mere moments after this staff got here. Here's to a hopefully a few more of these before NSD.

When will Harbaugh land the first commit from the State of Michigan? That would be a great honor. To be known as the first commit ever for Harbaugh from the State of Michigan...I'd want that on my resume

I'm not wooried about him being a two-star... Eric Fisher was a two-star TE and became the number one overall in the NFL draft... if he has the right attitude... he has the frame to be successful at this level

I'm not wooried about him being a two-star... Eric Fisher was a two-star TE and became the number one overall in the NFL draft... if he has the right attitude... he has the frame to be successful at this level

Definitely has the physical attributes. 6'5, already close to 300lbs, and especially like the note about finishing blocks "with authority." I'm sure he's got plenty to work on, but I think he'll have the luxury of getting a redshirt next year.

Seems to display the attributes Harbaugh wants in his O-Linemen, so he could be a good under-the-radar pickup. Either way, welcome aboard.

...on a hard-earned accomplishment. That Jim Harbaugh and Tim Drevno eschewed the star-ratings and chose you ought to put a lot of wind in your sails. You look like an asskicker on your tape. Welcome to the greatest university there is!

Why you ask? Because this kid has 12 guys to pass in 2016 after a redshirt in 2015. This is great for depth, will give him ample opportunity to develop, and is a low risk/high reward pickup this late in the game.